Making the Weather Up Cocktail at Home

Weather Up, the cocktail bar in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, serves a house Weather Up cocktail that is so simple and delicious that it's one of our favorites drinks in the city. It's just a mix of cognac, amaretto and lemon juice, plus a long strip of orange zest that the bartender uses to rub down the inside of the glass--a wine glass, the better to stick your nose in and enjoy the sweet and citrusy aromas. Essentially, it's just a really, really good sour--sweet (amaretto), sour (lemon), strong (cognac). Sadly, the Weather Up goes for $15, which means that we can afford it...never.

Last night we decided to try to make a Weather Up at home, playing around with the ratio of amaretto to cognac to lemon juice. We decided that using a ratio of 1 cognac: 3/4 amaretto: 1/4 lemon juice comes the closest. We shook it with ice in a cocktail shaker, and then strained it into wine glasses that had been rubbed on the inside with the orange peel. To serve, the strip of zest gets draped over the lip of the glass. It's almost as good as the original and a whole lot cheaper.